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Maurice
Maurice is an evolved orangutan and a former circus ape who resided at the San Bruno Primate Shelter with Cornelia, Rocket and Buck. He watched over Caesar and discovered his intelligence, hence learning about his ability to communicate with sign language. Seeing Caesar's potential, Maurice befriended him becoming Caesar's best and most trusted friend. During the Ape Rebellion, Maurice served as the second of Caesar's lieutenants, the first being Rocket. Over the next ten years, Maurice remains loyal to Caesar and serves as the colony's overseer and as a teacher to the new generation of apes. Biography Early life At some point, Maurice was an orangutan at a circus which is where he would learn the ability to communicate using sign language. Not much is known about anything further than that point and it is currently unknown what the cause of him being sent to the ape shelter is as he is shown to possess a rather kinder personality unlike the other apes there. Seeing as how he was a circus ape, it is possible that Maurice suffered from irresponsible ownership by the circus and so was removed due to this. Another possibility was that Maurice may have simply been no longer wanted, and so he was given to the primate shelter as a result. Rise of the Planet of the Apes Meeting Caesar When Caesar was first brought to the San Bruno Primate Shelter, Maurice took an immediate interest in him noting that Caesar was different from the other apes somehow and from a distance he watched as the chimpanzee struggled to fit in with his fellow apes. Maurice would then witness Caesar being horribly beaten by Rocket, the cruel alpha male of the shelter. He later watched as Caesar began to sulk in his cell over his time in the shelter. Through sign language, he asked Caesar if he was hurt bad, surprising Caesar as he had no idea another ape at the shelter knew sign language as well. Maurice then reveals to Caesar that he is a former circus orangutan and because the humans dislike smart apes he keeps it a secret from the shelter staff. This encounter relieved and lifted Caesar's spirits as he finally made a friend at the shelter and the two apes would be seen conversing with each other more often. Evolving One night, Maurice noticed Caesar escaping from his cell and heading to the play den. Later on, he along with the other apes watched as Caesar and his new friend Buck the gorilla threatened Rocket. After Caesar overthrew Rocket as Alpha, Maurice was puzzled as to why Caesar would later make Rocket give cookies (he stole from Dodge Landon) to all the apes in the facility. Maurice then asked Caesar his reason to having Rocket give the cookies to all the apes, Caesar replied that apes are weak separately but strong when together however, the pair soon saw two apes fight in the water behaving foolishly causing Maurice to point out the flaw by saying "Apes stupid". This comment unknowingly gave Caesar an idea and prompted him to return to his old home and steal canisters of Will's ALZ-113 drug and expose the sleeping apes to it. After receiving the ALZ-113 overnight, Maurice was examined by Caesar who saw that he had new green eyes which showed his increased intelligence. Maurice nodded his head in thanks to Caesar for giving him this new intelligence. Maurice is then seen with the other apes in the den as Caesar tells them of his plans to escape the shelter and head to the Muir Woods Park. Liberation He would pay witness to Caesar's confrontation with Dodge Landon growing agitated as Caesar was shocked by the caretaker but would be relieved as the Ape defeated the human and locked him in a cell. Maurice would be freed from his cell and escaped the shelter with Caesar and the other apes who would head for the outskirts of the city. Caesar divided his forces into two groups with Buck and other apes being tasked with freeing the captive apes in the San Francisco Zoo while Maurice and Rocket would aid Caesar in freeing their fellow apes at the Gen-Sys Laboratories which boosted up their numbers. The evolved apes then met up with Buck's group and headed out to the streets that broke out into chaos. Ape leader With more apes in the army whose numbers rose to hundreds, Maurice became the third-in-command of the ape army and the leader of the orangutan forces. Later, in the city he and Buck were cornered by the police, but he used a manhole lid as a weapon to throw at one of the police cars, which caused it to crash into a small shop while Buck threw a parking meter at another police car stopping it dead in it's tracks. The two would meet up with Caesar and Rocket as they used a trolley to travel to their next target the Golden Gate Bridge. Battle on the bridge Once at the Golden Gate Bridge, the apes caused massive chaos which made the humans flee in terror. This act would alert the police force and have them put the bridge on lockdown and a form a blockade to hold off the apes as they approached the bridge's center. However, Caesar anticipating this strategy and had his army stopped. Caesar ordered the new recruit Koba to take some chimpanzees up the high wires of the bridge to attack the police from above while Maurice, the other orangutans, and some of the chimpanzees were ordered by Caesar to attack from the bottom of the bridge supports. As he climbed beneath the bridge, Maurice had noticed a chimpanzee named Wolfie fall to his death after being shot down by the humans. This angered him to the point where he had his group climb faster to the bridge's center. While this was happening Caesar had the gorilla's use their strength to push a bus in the range of police bullets. With the police out of bullets the Caesar led his forces against the human forces causing a fierce battle. Now without any obstacles, Maurice and his group then join their brethren in the battle and manage to defeat the police blockade and celebrate in their victory against the humans. Freedom at last The apes would then leave the bridge and head for the safety of Muir Woods Park, which they made their new home. Maurice and the other apes watched as Caesar said his final goodbyes to his adoptive human father Will Rodman. Afterwards, Caesar turned to walk to his favorite tree and turned around to walk to his new comrades as Maurice and the others started to stand upright like Caesar, who ran up to and climbed at the top of the tree where he was joined by Maurice and Rocket, who sat on adjacent trees overlooking the city of San Francisco which was now in utter chaos. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm Maurice serves as one of Caesar's commanders as the apes struggle for survival after the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge. Caesar assigns him a group of apes to lead away from the humans while Rocket leads the second group while Caesar leads a third. When Cornelia begins talking about how different forest food is to jungle food, Maurice takes her side much to Caesar's annoyance. More To come... '' Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Creating a village Ten years later, Maurice has helped the other apes build a large thriving village in the Muir Woods Park where he has become an overseer and teacher to the young apes of the growing ape colony. Because of his role as a teacher many of the apes evolved or otherwise have learned how to use the ability of sign language as a way of communication. Maurice also appears to have take on a lawgiver role teaching the other apes the "Ape not kill ape" law which is shown to be a serious warning to those that would dare break the colony's rules. He has earned himself a place in Ape Council and he has remained close friends with Caesar to the point where they view each other as brothers and to the point where Caesar's oldest son Blue Eyes sees Maurice as an uncle. Discovering Human survivors Maurice is first seen teaching the younger generation in the village as Caesar's hunting party returns. After the birth of Caesar's second son, Maurice sits with him and congratulates him. They then talk about the humans and how few they have seen in the past ten years. Maurice states that unlike Caesar, he never got to know the good side of humans, only their bad side. The next day, Maurice awakens to the sound of a gunshot and accompanies the other apes to its origins where they discover that a group of humans have shot Ash (Rocket's son). The apes then scare off the humans by yelling at them (in English) as the humans flee, Maurice takes an immediate interest in Alexander's satchel (which was left behind following Carver's accidental attack on Ash) while Caesar orders koba and others to follow the humans. Maurice is later seen fiddling with his new discovery while the other apes are shown arguing over what to do with the humans. He takes an active part in the meeting by disagreeing with Koba's wish to immediately attack the remaining humans, stating they do not know how many of them remain. Their argument would be interrupted by Caesar who says he has a more peaceful way to settle things with the humans. The next morning, Maurice would march into the city with his people as Caesar issues his warning of war to the humans if they dare enter ape territory again before returning the satchel Interest in Humans Later on, Maurice and his fellow apes are in the woods watching over the humans as they all wake up. He looks through Alexander's comics as the human questions him if he can read to which the ape doesn't answer. Maurice later sits with Alexander and becomes fascinated by his comics and drawings, and begins to become sympathetic to the humans just as Caesar was to them as well. Maurice would then join his people when the humans go to work at the San Francisco Dam to restore power to the city and is questioned by Caesar as to where Koba had went. Later when the humans are in trouble at the dam Maurice and his friends help them escape from the area before they drown from the rising water flooding the building. Maurice would then witness Koba angrily walk in the building and attack the humans while demanding Caesar to come out. When Koba was about to attack Alexander and Malcolm, Maurice got in the way and protected his new human friends from the angry ape and would as Caesar nearly beats Koba to death for his insolence but stops himself by remembering the "Ape Not Kill Ape" law (as it is the first Law of Caesar). Koba's usurpation When the city of San Francisco has it's power restored, the apes and the humans would celebrate not just for the humans benefits but for the royal ape family when Cornelia suddenly walks out alive and well. The apes would continue to celebrate until the sound of gunshot is heard and Caesar's body falls from a tree branch much to the horror of his people. Along with that the Ape Village suddenly bursts into flames causing the apes to flee from their home as Blue Eyes emerges with a gun and the ape hating human Carver's baseball cap. Blue Eyes his new discovery with the other apes while Maurice watching speaks by telling Malcolm and his family to run for their lives. As they flee, Koba comes out of nowhere taking up the mantle of Ape king by telling the apes that humans attacked and killed Caesar and burnt their homes. He then orders them to retaliate by killing humans while they are vulnerable. It is unknown where Maurice went while the rest of the rowdy and angry apes took up arms and went on to attack the city killing many humans. Imprisonment Following the supposed death of Caesar, Koba and his army have seized control of San Francisco imprisoning any human survivor in cells due to wanting them to see the oppression of apes. Koba also imprisoned any ape who refuses to kill human and remain a loyal follower to Caesar on a bus right next to the humans cells, these apes imprisoned include Maurice, Rocket, Luca and others. Maurice would later be visited by Blue Eyes who he warns to stay away for his own safety Restoring Caesar to power Later on, Maurice and other captives would sit and are forced to watch the madness Koba has begun before noticing Caesar's emblem appear on the window of the bus and would see blue eyes at the corner telling them to be quiet and wait for his return. At night, the captive apes start a ruckus causing their guards to try and quell the situation but they are overpowered by the prisoners who shake the bus on the other side, this act distracts the guard ape long enough for the human prisoners to escape. Blue Eyes then returns and liberates his uncles before they all flee the area. The assemble group joins blue eyes and return to the Rodman House where they find their leader and friend Caesar still alive telling them Koba's madness will end. Maurice would be a close witness to Caesar and Koba's fight as they battle for the title of the Ape king. When Koba gets hold of a gun and open fire on the other apes Maurice is injured by one of Koba's stray bullets gaining a scar in the process. For the rest of the battle he was shown being carried to safety by Blue Eyes and Rocket before watching as Caesar tackles Koba and leaves the bonobo hanging from the ledge of the Human Colony's building. The wounded Maurice watches as Caesar drops Koba to his death and would celebrate Caesar restoration to power and join him in regrouping with the other apes. Maurice is then seen bowing down to Caesar along with the other apes awaiting the impending battle with the humans to come. War for the Planet of the Apes Maurice still acts as one of Caesar's chief and most trusted advisers. He along with Rocket and Luca companies Caesar of his quest to get revenge. When the company discover Nova, Maurice is the one that convinces Caesar to keep Nova, an act that would unintentionally save Caesar's live later. Maurice got in a brief argument with Caesar where he compared Caesar to Koba due to his lust for revenge against the humans for killing his family and Luca, however, Caesar later admits this comparison to be true. After Caesar is captured by the humans and forced into slave labour, he, Bad Ape, Rocket and Nova rescue him and the other apes. Maurice escapes along with the other apes and survives the battle which follows and the avalanche. He then makes his way with Caesar and the other apes to the Lake. Maurice is with Caesar when he finally succumbs to his wounds from the battle. Maurice is the last ape Caesar talks to. Maurice promises that Caesars last son Cornelius will know who his father was, what he stood for and what he did to protect the apes. Although Maurice is extremely upset by Caesar's death he also accepts it. In this moment Maurice also speaks for the second time in the movie. Personality Rise of the Planet of the Apes Maurice is an orangutan that speaks very little. He is kind hearted and is the first to befriend Caesar after discovering that the chimpanzee could also speak using sign language. He is also intelligent, wise and extremely loyal when it comes to his friends. When he is first introduced in the first film, he is shown to be cynical, gloomy, skeptical and extremely pessimistic. He is respectful to Caesar and admires his intelligence and ambition, and is keen to listen to Caesar's ideas. He is also the first that Caesar bonds with in captivity, since they both know sign language and have similar methods of thought. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes At the beginning of Dawn, Maurice is skeptical of there being good in humans having only seen their bad sides. However, his curiosity towards Malcolm and his family prompts him to befriend Alexander, Malcolm's son who teaches him more about the human world by showing him a photo of his late mother and his book of drawings. The orangutan sees through his own eyes what some of the other humans are like and that some can be trusted which sees his opinion matched with Caesar's that there are good humans. His new view of humans led to him defending Malcolm and Alexander from the human-hating ape Koba as well as warning Malcolm and his family to run for their lives during Koba's usurpation against Caesar as the alpha male of the apes. Moreover when Koba took power, Maurice was one of the few apes to stand against him and remain a loyal supporter to Caesar despite being imprisoned on a bus for his insolence. This shows that he is faithful only to his true leader and best friend as his loyalty was not tainted by thoughts of vengeance on the innocent humans during Koba's reign. War for the Planet of the Apes Maurice is still loyal to Caesar, and still shows his sympathetic side to humans like Nova knowing that she would die if left alone which puts his relationship with the ape king on a slight strain but still trustworthy. Right up to the point where he started to admit to his friend that he was starting to act like Koba but he became mournful of Caesar's death. He assures his oldest friend that Cornelius will know what his father did for them. Abilities *'Animal Strength:' Like all orangutans, Maurice is extremely powerful and strong, during the Ape Rebellion, he is shown to be strong enough to lift a manhole lid, and throw it at one of the police cars, which caused it to crash into a police car. *'Genius-Level Intellect:' Maurice's intellect is the highest among all apes and possibly even humans. Even before he was exposed to the ALZ-113, he had some level of intelligence, after Caesar arrived at the ape shelter, he was observing him and realize that the latter is much more intelligent than a normal ape, after he was exposed to the ALZ-113, Maurice became much more hyper-intelligent than before. By the time of the events of ''Dawn; Maurice's intelligence and IQ has increased to the point when he has been appointed by Caesar as one of the teachers of the new generation of apes, as well as being Overseer of the Ape Colony. *'Sign Language:' Like Caesar, Maurice knows American Sign Language. Maurice uses it as a way of communication, little is known about how or by who he learned it from, other then that he came from the circus. In Dawn, Maurice is shown teaching young apes the basics of sign language in order for them to communicate proving that he is very skilled in teaching it to other apes as many apes either evolved or otherwise have learned the art from him and Caesar. *'Expert Hand-To-Hand Combatant:' Due to him being the third-in-command of the Ape Army, Maurice is a capable fighter. As seen when the apes were battling the humans during the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, Maurice was able to defeat many police officers before they were forced to retreat. *'Expert Horse Rider:' Like many of the other apes, Maurice is able to ride a horse with ease. *'Expert Leader:' During the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, Maurice showed that he was a capable leader as shown when he led the Orangutans and some of the Chimpanzees under the bridge in order to attack the police officers when their attention was focused on the other apes, this tactic was successful in obtaining victory. *'Speech:' Having inhaled the ALZ-113, Maurice like the other Evolved apes has gained the ability of speech. During Dawn, his only dialogue outside of sign language is one word, "Run" which was warning for Malcolm and his family to flee when Koba took power. In War, Maurice's english is broken as he spoke to Caesar before his death, promising him that Cornelius will know who his father was and what he did for him and the ape colony. Relationships *''See Maurice/Relationships. Notes *Maurice was the deuteragonist in ''War for the Planet of the Apes. *Maurice was named in tribute to Maurice Evans, who played chief orangutan Dr. Zaius in Planet of the Apes and Beneath the Planet of the Apes, although the movie used the American pronunciation of his name ("Maw-reece") rather than Evans' own British pronunciation ("Morris"). *In Battle for the Planet of the Apes, both the Lawgiver - the wise historian - and Virgil - the advisor - were portrayed as orangutans. The portrayal of Maurice reflects the lineage of just, wise orangutans from the original movies like the Lawgiver and Dr. Zaius. *Maurice is the only known Orangutan in the Ape Colony to have been given the ALZ-113 drug. *At age 25 during Dawn, Maurice was one of the six oldest apes to appear. **The other apes were Koba, Buck, Luca, Rocket, and Caesar. **Out of those six, Maurice and Rocket are the only ones that are still alive. *After Caesar's death, it can be assumed that Maurice played some role in raising Cornelius alongside Lake and Rocket. *In War, Maurice is showing small signs of adaptation, as he appears to be able to knuckle-walk and arch his back like chimpanzees and gorillas, as opposed to an orangutan's traditional fist-walking and their back appears hunched. Trivia *There are many postings on Karin Konoval's official public Facebook page that tell about her experiences getting to know real life orangutans. Konoval later confirmed that Maurice was based on "feisty" Bruno from the Los Angeles Zoo, on the "heart and soul" of Towan from Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, and on Clyde the walking orangutan.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-IF3AtANKg Building a Better Ape - Maurice] *Karin Konoval had to wear weights as part of her motion capture suit. *To celebrate one million likes on the official Apes Facebook page, Matt Reeves made a congratulatory video for the page. In the background on the editing monitors behind Reeves were a series of completed stills of Caesar and Maurice in the editing program. *At CinemaCon, Maurice was seen in the footage that was shown. *In an interview at CinemaCon, Andy Serkis mentioned that Maurice would act as a school teacher to the younger apes and that Maurice might be able to speak English. From what Serkis mentioned, Maurice helped Caesar teach many of the apes how to use sign language as a way of communication. *Maurice had brief appearances in the footage at CinemaCon. He appeared to be sad in some of the shots. *Maurice made a brief appearance at the beginning of Dawn's first TV spot. He was on Caesar's left when the apes were preparing for war at the beginning of the spot. He was not wearing warpaint. *Maurice, Rocket, Luca, and other apes who are loyal to Caesar and refuse to kill unarmed humans were caged and held prisoner by Koba. *Maurice was the third known ape to speak in the Chernin Entertainment PotA franchise. In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, he told the humans in the Ape Village to leave when Koba took over with only one word, "Run". *Maurice received a scar on the top of his right cheek after Koba fired at him, Blue-Eyes, Rocket and Luca. *Maurice is the first ape that Caesar ever communicated with in sign. **He was also the last ape he communicated with in english at the time of his death. Gallery *''See Maurice/Gallery''. Appearances *Rise of the Planet of the Apes *Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm *Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (novelization) *Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (BOOM! Studios) **Dawn of the Planet of the Apes #1 **Dawn of the Planet of the Apes #4 **Dawn of the Planet of the Apes #6 *War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations *War for the Planet of the Apes (novelization) *War for the Planet of the Apes (BOOM! Studios) **War for the Planet of the Apes #1 **War for the Planet of the Apes #2 **War for the Planet of the Apes #3 **War for the Planet of the Apes #4 References Category:Living Characters Category:Orangutans Category:Male Characters Category:Heroes Category:Apes Category:CE Category:Evolved Apes Category:CE Characters Category:Ape Rebellion (CE) Category:Caesar's Ape Army (CE) Category:Caesar's Council of Apes (CE) Category:Caesar's Ape Colony (CE) Category:Human-Ape War Category:Characters Category:Novel Characters Category:Comic Characters Category:Talking Apes (CE) Category:NECA Figurines Category:Article Stubs Category:Stubs Category:Article Request Category:Character Stubs Category:Ape King Advisors Category:Orangutans (comics) Category:Animals Category:BOOM! Studios Characters Category:Living Apes